Post on 11-Aug-2019
transcript
Mohit Gupta
Mohit Gupta
Rahul Kumar Rahul Kumar
Rahul Kumar
Set in 17th century Shahjahanabad / Old Delhi, adjacent to Fatehpuri mosque and the spice market of Khari Baoli; the early morning Fatehpuri mandi is the master supplier of genda phool in its loose form, supplying genda, ashok patti, and setki / markit / bijli phool to other mandis, retail florists and garland makers all over the city. Said to be about 70-80 years oldin its current form.
fATEhpUri MAnDi
Adil Hasan
Karan & Mehar
Located opposite Hanuman Mandir in the heart of the city; Connaught Place mandi, which is more than 20 years old, brings to us cut flowers from all over the country and the world, every morning before the city awakens. Some suggest that this is Asia’s largest flower market and definitelythe most beautiful place for an early morning meditation. It’s a flash in the pan - business worth lacs of rupees is transacted before the space and the flower traders get ready for another life that starts later in the day. The energy is tremendous!
Saurabh Mehta
Saurabh Mehta
Tarun Garg
C.p MAnDi
Saurabh Mehta
Karan & Mehar
Saurabh Mehta Saurabh Mehta
Sandesh Kumar
MEhrAULi MAnDi
Mehrauli mandi again largely specialises in Genda Phool (in loose and garland form) but also some cut flowers. This Mandi is open all day, unlike the other two which are early morning markets.It is located next to the Qutab Minar and the Archaelogical Park in Mehrauli, a historic coreof Delhi, inhabited continuously at leastfor a thousand years.
Mohit GuptaMohit Gupta
Mohit Gupta
Saurabh Mehta
The mandis are the lifeline of the farmers, who come from neighbouring areas to sell their produce in the city (seen here are farmers at Fatehpuri, who arrive at the nearby Sadar Bazar railway station). In our cities, agricultural lands are constantly shrinking, but the mandis are truly beautiful farmer’s markets. While the state claims to promote the cause of agriculture, and aims to lessen inter-mediaries between the farmer and the consumer; in actuality the centralisation of these mandis and the so called formal organisation of the flower trade truly robs the farmer of his right to sell in the city.
Mohit Gupta
fArMErS
Adil Hasan
Karan & Mehar
Saptorishi MajumdarSaptorishi Majumdar
Adil Hasan
Besides the farmers, a wide range of people are involved in the business - ma-sakhors (who buy from farmers and sell at a premium), commission agents, shopowners, and working staff. They belong to varied social, economic & religious backgrounds, making our mandis places which belong to everyone. Where have all these people gone?
fLoWEr SELLErS
Mohit Gupta
Rahul Kumar
Saurabh Mehta Karan & Mehar Rahul Kumar
The maalin - literally one who makes a garland, balanced the energy of the mandi, brining to it feminine agency. These maalins don’t just string together flowers, but our very lives, as we partake of their delightful handmade creations at almost every important step in our lives: birth,marriage or death. Maalins from all over the city converge at Fatehpurievery morning to buy flowers for the day, while at Mehrauli they work for shop-owners, sometimes including entire families.
MAALin
Siraj Mohammad
Saptorishi MajumdarKaran & MeharKaran & Mehar
Karan & Mehar
The mandis are repositories of floral biodiversity, as they bring us anextraordinarily wide range of flowers from home, and abroad. Every time you visit the mandi, you see a new flower, signalling an endlessromance with floral species. From apparently insignificant foliage to rare flowers that cost the earth, the mandis are home to the floral universe. Pictured here is Calcutta genda, the pride of the Connaught Place mandi; cut-flowers from around Bangalore and lotuses from Chennai.
ThE fLorAL UnivErSE
Karan & Mehar
Karan & Mehar Karan & MeharSaptorishi Majumdar
Karan & Mehar
Like the diverse composition of flower traders; the flower consumers also are like a bursting efflorescence. Buy genda worth 5 rupees or 5 lacs. Hotels, banquets,event managers,wedding planners, thecommon man, home-makers, the mandisbelong to all.
ConSUMErS
Adil Hasan
Saptorishi Majumdar Madhur Sondhi
Saurabh Mehta
Saurabh Mehta
A cup of tea, fresh strawberries, chana-jor-garam, and more. A parallel army of food sellers feed the flower sellers and us every morning. The world of foodand flowers can never be separated.
khAnA pEEnA / fooD
Adil Hasan
Saptorishi Majumdar Adil Hasan Karan & Mehar
Karan & Mehar
Besides fresh flowers which dominate the markets, you can fulfill yourother needs at the mandis too. Dried flowers, tent decorations, sui-dhaaga, baskets, vases, floral foam, and other miscellaneous floral decoration equipments make the mandis a one stop shop for all things floral. These parallel landscapes and economies also blossom at the mandis and it is impossible to imagine the mandi without these.
ETC. ETC.
Mohit Gupta
Tarun Garg
Karan & Mehar
Saptorishi Majumdar
Saurabh Mehta
Continue to see how the mandis truly had a 360 degree relationship with the city, and supported as well as depended on many more people than just phoolwalas. Transport in the city celebrates our floral heritage - planes flying down flowers from Holland, trains from near and far, trucks, tempos, cars, auto-rickshaws,two-wheelers, hand pulled carts, cycles &cycle rickshaws, all shaandar sawaris.
TrAnSporT
Tarun Garg
Adil Hasan
Saptorishi Majumdar
Karan & Mehar
Karan & Mehar
It is not all beautiful in the conventional sense of the word. The mandis are real places - not a floral idealism this. We end with showing you their seamier side. Sweepers, refuse & filth, drug-doused scavengers - wecelebrate all this tooin the world of our beloved markets.
ThE SEAMiEr SiDE